Xenon's when driving Abroad

[pridders]

Hi All,

I am driving from Calais to Le Horps in France (nr Le Mans) for a break over the christmas week. Apparantly the drive down there is very nice (on the A28 toll road?) I know that i need to take a triangle, first aid kit and have a GB sticker on the tail gate but what about the xenons? Do I need to put some stickers over the lens of the headlight? Any advice would be great.

Cheers,

Ryan

[RedRobin]

^^^^

You don't need a GB sticker if you have number plates with the blue vertical strip and small GB on them.





^ Yes, the road is great but watch out for speed cam cops - They liaise with UK Kent Police who often accompany them.
The French have been known to temporarily confiscate your car!



^ Even the roadside public toilets are good! Very clean and with good music!!



^ And even Autoroute food!!

[test_richie]

Do I need to put some stickers over the lens of the headlight? Any advice would be great.
 

Yes if you will be driving at night as your head lights will be pointing to the wrong side and blind on coming traffic

[Rollini]

you'll need a high vis jacket as well - apparently its the law in france to always have 1 of these in your car

(i swear i knew this before watching top gear last week  )

[mrlapou]

Spare bulb kit, spectacles (if you wear them), hi vis jacket/vest.
Xenon's normally have a lever inside the headlight unit that needs to be moved to LHD position. Not sure owner manual covers it , bit Elaswin does.
PM for a pdf file on how to do this 

[flywalker]

Here is a link to the thread in the Mk5 info & maintenance section on  how to switch your xenons over for driving in Europe.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=51636.0

[bobotheclown]

don't you need a warning triangle as well?

[illyun]

I remember that.. I asked the question for my road trip to Morocco.  The switch makes the lights point straight from the UK setting like this \\ to this || .  I used a paintbrush - the hard end - to get in the small space and flick the switch.  

[tony_danza]

You'll deffo need something like a paintbrush, as the offside one especially is very hard to get to unless you have tiny hands. I drive over a few times a year t'gaff down South. Currently you need:

V5 Owners doc
Green card for insurance
Spare bulb kit
Luminous Jacket (now a requirement in the cabin area for all cars travelling in France and I believe Belgium too)
Warning Triangle
Failure to abide by the above can lead to an on-the-spot €90-€130 fine

DON'T have a speed camera detector in the car, they'll spank you for it. Loads of speed traps all the way to Paris, from there you're fairly safe. Also, check you have European Breakdown Cover (you never know!)

I personally find Northern France a pretty boring drive, there's nowt to see. The Paris ring road is a hoot though! Shame you're not going further South, there's some great roads.

[pridders]

Many Thanks all for the great advice 

I couple of questions though,

1) If I need a spare bulb kit is this replacements for the xenon’s and tails lights? Are replacement xenon’s quite expensive?
2) What is a "Green Card" is this just my proof of insurance?

Thanks again All